Trichromothrips cyperaceae

Recognition data

Distinguishing features

Female fully winged. Body yellow, abdominal apex and distal antennal segments light brown; forewings pale. Head wider than long; two pairs of ocellar setae, pair III longer than width of eye; one small tubercle on inter-antennal projection; ocellar region with no sculpture, vertex with a few transverse lines. Antennae 8-segmented; segment I with paired small setae on dorsal apex; segments III � IV with small slender forked sensorium. Pronotum without sculpture; two pairs of long posteroangular setae, two pairs of posteromarginal setae. Metanotum without sculpture; median setae far back from anterior margin; no campaniform sensilla. Forewing first vein with two setae on distal half; second vein with about 12 setae. Abdominal tergites with weak sculpture lines laterally; tergite VIII with no marginal comb; tergite X with no longitudinal split. Sternites III � VII with six to twelve discal setae.

Related and similar species

The genus Trichromothrips includes worldwide a total of 31 species (Masumoto & Okajima, 2005), and this includes species that at one time were placed in the genus Dorcadothrips. A second species recorded from California, T. xanthius (Williams), can be distinguished by the presence laterally on abdominal sternites V � VI of paired dark, coarsely-grained areas of sculpture. T. xanthius is apparently associated with orchids (Bhatti, 2000).

Taxonomic data

Current valid name

Trichromothrips cyperaceae (Bianchi)

Original name and synonyms

Taeniothrips cyperaceae Bianchi, 1945: 283

Family placement

Thripidae, Thripinae

Biological data

Life history

No information

Host plants

Cyperus rotundus (Cyperaceae) (Bhatti, 2000).

Tospoviruses vectored

None

Crop damage